Marcin Studniarek
Biography
Overview
Marcin Studniarek is the Office Executive Partner and Head of the Capital Markets and M&A practices in the White & Case Warsaw office. Boasting nearly 25 years of professional experience, Marcin is a trusted strategic advisor to Polish and international companies, investors and financial institutions.
He has led numerous high-profile inbound and outbound M&A transactions in Poland and throughout Europe, including representation of the State Treasury in negotiations with foreign investors. He also possesses a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of capital markets and regulatory issues. He has advised issuers and banks on numerous public issues of shares, including initial public offerings, secondary public offerings, accelerated bookbuildings; and various types of debt securities, such as high-yield bonds, covered bonds, MTN and EMTN programs, SEC-registered notes and corporate bonds.
Specializing in commercial law, securities law as well as corporate governance issues, Marcin possesses a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of the Polish and European markets.
Widely recognized as a leading practitioner in Poland, he garners praise from reputable global law firm rankings such as Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500 EMEA (Leading Individual in M&A and Capital Markets) and IFLR1000 (Market Leader in M&A, Equity Capital Markets and Debt Capital Markets), further solidifying his reputation in the industry.
Experience
The recent transactions he has worked on include, among others:
- UniCredit: representation of UniCredit on the €370 million acquisition of the entire share capital of Vodeno and Aion Bank.
- STS Holding: representation of STS Holding, Poland's largest sports betting operator, and its majority shareholders on the US$1 billion sale of all their shares in the company to Entain CEE. Previously, we also advised STS Holding on its PLN 1.1 billion IPO on the WSE, making it the only sports betting company currently listed on the WSE.
- Murapol: representation of the managers on the IPO and admission to trading of shares in Murapol, one of the largest residential developers in Poland, on the regulated market of the WSE – the only IPO on the WSE in 2023.
- Comarch: representation of Comarch, a global software developer, and two of its shareholders on a tender offer for the sale of all shares in Comarch and the delisting of its shares from the regulated market of the WSE.
- Play: representation of Play Communications, the leading mobile network operator in Poland, and its reference shareholders Novator and Olympia, on iliad's €2.2 billion, all-cash public tender offer for all of the shares in Play.
- Huuuge Games: representation of Delaware-based corporation Huuuge Games. as issuer, a global developer of free-to-play games and publisher of digital games on mobile and web platforms, on its €372 million IPO on the WSE. This was the largest IPO of a gaming sector company in the history of the WSE and the largest mobile gaming IPO in Europe.
- BGK: representation of BGK, the largest bond issuer in Poland after the State Treasury, on its record issuance of two bonds series on the dollar market with a total value of US$3.5 billion. The bonds were issued for the purposes of the COVID-19 Response Fund, ten-year bonds with a nominal value of US$1.75 billion, and the National Road Fund, 30-year bonds with a nominal value of US$1.75 billion.
- Citigroup Global Markets Europe: representation of Citigroup Global Markets Europe, as financial advisor to ORLEN (the largest multi-energy company in CEE), on its two mergers – with PGNiG and Grupa Lotos.
- Orlen: representation of Orlen on the establishment of a €5 billion EMTN programme and the first issue of €500 million green bonds issued under the programme. The transaction was the first green bond issue from Poland by a company outside the financial sector.
- PKO Bank Hipoteczny: representation of banks on the establishment of a €4 billion international covered bond issuance programme, and the several issuances of mortgage-covered bonds thereunder. This was the first international program for the issuance of mortgage bonds established by a Polish mortgage bank under which mortgage bonds were issued based on Polish law.
